The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and should not be construed as constituting prior art.
A natural shoulder joint may undergo degenerative changes due to a variety of etiologies. When these degenerative changes become so far advanced and irreversible, it may ultimately become necessary to replace a natural shoulder joint with a prosthetic shoulder joint. When implantation of a shoulder joint prosthesis becomes necessary, the natural head portion of the humerus can be resected and a cavity created in the intramedullary canal of the host humerus for accepting a humeral component. Moreover, the glenoid cavity positioned at the lateral edge of the scapula may also be resurfaced and shaped to accept the glenoid component. The humeral component includes a head portion used to replace the natural head of the humerus, while the glenoid component generally includes an articulating surface which is engaged by the head portion of the humeral component.
It is generally known in the art to provide a shoulder joint prosthesis having a glenoid component, as discussed above. Current glenoid replacement surgical techniques, however, suffer from some disadvantages, particularly as they require the surgeon to perform numerous bone preparation steps before the glenoid component can be surgically implanted. More particularly, since glenoid components are subject to various types of loading by the head portion of the humeral component, the glenoid component must offer a stable and secure articulating surface. To achieve this, some glenoid components provide peripheral pegs which are inserted and cemented into holes bored into the glenoid cavity. Some of the pegged glenoid components utilize up to five peripheral pegs in order to stabilize and secure the glenoid component to the scapula. Current glenoid replacement procedures require pre-drilled holes to be formed in the bone for each peripheral peg of the glenoid component. To achieve this, typically a guide is placed on the glenoid that provides a path for each peripheral peg hole to be drilled. After each hole is drilled, an anti-rotation peg is inserted into that respective hole of the guide to ensure the next drilled hole is properly aligned. By requiring multiple holes to be separately drilled into the bone, not only is the process time-consuming, but it also increases the possibility that a drilling misalignment will occur during the bone preparation process.
In addition to the process being complicated and time consuming, if the drill assembly is used several times, the drill bits often become dull and/or damaged. Moreover, if the drill bits are incapable of being replaced, the entire drill assembly must be discarded, which is not an economical solution.
What is needed then is a device that can be incorporated into a glenoid replacement surgical technique without suffering from the above-mentioned disadvantages. The present invention is intended to improve upon and resolve some of these known deficiencies of the art.